Hey guys, I've been having this problem with my truck for about the past 3-4 months. It's a 1996 Dodge Dakota 2.5L, 5 speed.

Firstly, when I start the car, it takes about 20 times if I haven't started it since the day before and whenever I press the pedal past like an inch depression it'll sputter and immediately die; anyway, once i do get it started, it'll run OK, but it seems like it's not accelerating to it's full potential at all.

Secondly, usually it rides ok and doesn't die, but then a lot of times I'll be either coming to a red light to stop or sitting in traffic and it'll just KILL. It's such a bother that I keep the radio low so I can actually hear my revs (I have no tachometer) to make sure it doesn't kill because if I hear it dieing I can usually press the accelerator down and keep it running. After it dies in traffic like I just explained, it usually takes a sh*t-ton of turn-overs to get it running again which I know aint good for my starter.

I've got a brand new battery. I've smoke tested the engine for vacuum leaks and it's good. And I've also changed my intake gasket (that's where I found a vacuum leak when I smoke tested it). I figure maybe it's a fuel pump or filter problem, but I just wanted to get a consensus before I go and change either one.

Please give me your opinions, thanks.

BTW, here's a picture just for the heck of it:

 

Sounds like a dieing fuel pump,the filter is in the tank. I cleaned my filter with brake cleaner after taking it apart. All the parts places around here wouldn't sell me just a filter. BTW, it was easier for me to remove the bed than to drop the tank........

 

Yes it may be the fuel pump. Are you getting any check engine light codes?

 

As of today, I was driving around testing it and it started sputtering while I was driving and killing as I was coming to stops. While it was sputtering the check engine light would flicker on every time it would sputter then flicker back off really fast, but it's off any other time.

 

Check the codes see what comes up. Check the FAQ in this section for how to check the codes without a scanner. And for what the codes mean.

 

OK, I just did that and all it gave me was this:

 

You should of also got 55 for end of codes.

I would say get a fuel pump gauge and see what the fuel pressure is.

 

yeah, I got the 55, I just figured U'd take that for a given. Ineed, I'll see if one of my friends has one.